Angels and Devils
by ScarredNotBroken
Summary: Naomi Mori may live in the Satellite, but her life isn't as horrible as most - that is until one so-called friend turns everything upside down. No shippings, mostly OC's with mentions of cannons until the second half of the story. Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1 Rollin' With the Good Times

Author's Notes: Well, this has been requested numerous times by one user, and, if you are planning on reading _A New Hope_ (a collaboration between myself and ElodieKumari94), this story will be helpful (though not necessary).

Hopefully you already know my policy on comments, but, just in case you don't, here it is again: Comments=new chapters. No reviews=no new chapters. Simple as that. Constructive criticism is always welcome, but flames are not. (And, yes, I _do _know the difference between the two! So don't be afraid to offer concrit!)

A brief introduction of original characters:  
>Naomi Mori - protagonist.<br>Ryan Mori - older brother to Naomi.  
>Meike Kyro - friend of Naomi.<br>Jori Kuma - you may recognize the name if you've read _Changing the World_. He is a friend of Crow's and of Naomi's. Also a "lover" of Naomi's.  
>Alex Haru - The same Alex whom Yusei roomed with at the Facility. Another friend and "lover" of Naomi's.<p>

That said, enjoy=)

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><p><strong>Chapter One - Rollin' With the Good Times<strong>

"You can't outrun us, you little devil!" a man shouted as he and several other Sector Security officers zoomed through the streets on their duel runners.

Naomi Mori almost burst out laughing at their stupidity as they drove right past the alleyway she had concealed herself in. 'How do such dimwits ever survive?' she thought, shaking her head. She pulled off her navy blue stocking cap, combing her fingers through chestnut brown hair that fell to just below her shoulders. As she re-adjusted her hat back on her head, a cold, strong hand clamped itself over her shoulder, spinning her around. Her green eyes flew wide as she thought, 'Crap! Someone saw me after all!' Then she saw whom it was behind the hand.

"Ryan! Don't _DO_ that!"

The boy laughed. "Can't help it! You're so much fun to tease, little sis!" Ryan Mori had only a year on his sister, but he was a good eight inches taller and lean but muscular. He brushed shaggy brown hair out of his sky-blue eyes as Naomi stood, hands on hips, a crooked half-smile on her lips, trying not to laugh herself. "So did you get whatever it was you went after this time?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yup." She flashed a mischievous grin, holding up the card Change of Heart. "Now my deck is complete!"

"Good! Now I can stop worrying about you getting caught every time you feel like adding to your deck!"

Naomi rolled her eyes. Those officers had never come anywhere close to catching her. "C'mon, we'd better get back before it gets dark."

"What's the hurry?" a voice spoke from behind her.

Naomi spun around again. "Jori! What are you doing here?"

The freckle-faced boy laughed as he gave her a one-armed hug. "When you didn't come back before dinner, Ryan came by and asked me to help hunt you down. Ya know, just in case Sector Security actually caught up with you for once," he teased, winking down at her.

Naomi rolled her eyes for a second time. "Like that would ever happen. After all the times I've gotten away, you'd think they'd catch on to where I disappear everytime!"

"Just be glad they haven't! I've heard stories about how people - especially Satellites - are treated in that Facility..."

"Well, don't worry, Jori; my sister swears she's done stealing cards now," Ryan inserted, folding his arms and staring pointedly at Naomi.

Jori raised an eyebrow and gazed down through rust-colored bangs at the girl by his side. "You really believe that, Ryan? 'Cause that's exactly what she said after she got Chaos Goddess, remember? This is the sixth card she's gone after since then!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Trust me, Jori; Change of Heart completes my deck! This really is the last card I'm going after."

"Well, I need to be getting back to Martha's," Jori commented. "She counts on me to help with the younger kids. I'm just glad they didn't catch you. See you guys later!" He gave Naomi another one-armed hug, then disappeared around the same corner he had emerged from only a moment before.

Naomi and Ryan turned and went the opposite direction from their friend. The two of them had lived by themselves for a year now, ever since the woman who had taken them in had past away. Ever since their parents had been killed when the city split, she had protected them, fed them, and given them a warm place to sleep for fourteen years, but now they were on their own.

But it wasn't all bad; they were _on_ their own, but they were far from _being_ alone. Apart from her brother, Naomi had several close friends, Jori Kuma being one of them. He was three years older than herself, but that didn't keep them from being close friends. When they had first met, he had invited her to come stay at his foster mother, Martha's, saying that she would never turn away anyone without a home. Naomi had declined the offer, but the two still became close friends.

Alex Haru was another friend, but Naomi had known him far longer than Jori. She had been only five or six at the time, but she could remember the meeting as if it had happened only yesterday. She had been outside playing with a big red ball when it rolled across the street. Alex had been the one to kick it back to her, thus starting a game - and a friendship - between the two.

Mieke Kyro was yet another long-time friend. The same age as Naomi, she lived with her uncle near Martha's place. Naomi met her through Jori; Mieke would often go to play with the kids staying at Martha's and was always talking about someone named Yusei or Crow or the like, but Naomi had never met anyone but Jori from there.

By the time Naomi and her brother reached their "home" - an old abandoned warehouse on the edge of the ocean - it was already dark. Naomi loved this spot; it was one of the few places one could look out at the ocean and not see New Domino City on the horizon. She could simply stare out at the waves, the stars and moon reflecting in the water on a calm night.

"I think I'll stay out here for awhile, Ryan."

"Suite yourself. 'Night, sis!"

"'Night!" She walked over to where the rocks dropped away to the water below and perched on the edge. A cool breeze lifted her hair and swirled it around her face. Some day she would know what it was like to be free as the wind; someday she would escape the oppression of the Satellite Sector and start over somewhere far from this place.

She sighed. Who was she kidding? There was no way off this island. ...Yet it never hurt to dream, did it? What was life without hopes and dreams? Especially living in the Satellite one had to have hope for a brighter future or else you'd go mad! And that was her biggest hope, her biggest dream: A life outside of Satellite, a life as free as the breeze tossing her hair.

But for now, she didn't have a choice. So for now, she would keep on dreaming. Besides, what more could she want right now, anyway? She had everything that mattered: her brother, her friends, her deck... As much as she would give anything to get away, she found a strange kind of contentment in what she already had.

Someday, she knew, she would be free, but for now, this was as good of a life as any! She was much more fortunate then most here, and she really had no complaints. She regretted not having parents, but at the same time, she had no restrictions this way either.

'This is the life!' she thought as she gazed up at the stars. In most parts of the Satellite, one could barely see the moon through the smog, but at this far edge, the sky was clear. As she continued to gaze up at the night sky's constellations, she felt as though nothing could be better in her own little world.

Yet despite it all, there was always this nagging in her soul to be free, to simply fly away from the depression of Satellite.

"'Going through this life, looking for angels,'" she sang softly to herself as the waves beat a steady rhythm the rocks below. "'People passing by, looking for angels; walking down the streets, looking for angels; everyone I meet, looking for angels...'"

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><p>Author's Notes: All credit for the song in the last line goes to Skillet and their song "Looking for Angels;" I only own my characters and the plot but none of the elements of Yugioh 5D's.<p>

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review=)


	2. Chapter 2 Yesterday Is Gone

Author's Notes: Second chapter=) It won't take long between chapters for this story; I wrote this quite a while ago. (And a special thanks to darkyami1214, ElodieKumari94, konomixkatya23, and TheRoseShadow21 for reviewing; you guys make it worth posting=))

Anyway, on with the plot=)

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><p><strong>Chapter Two - Yesterday Is Gone<strong>

_Two Weeks Later._

"What?" Naomi breathed, stunned. She sat down hard in the chair behind her. "It can't be true!"

Mieke could only nod, lavender eyes wide and misted over with tears. "It's true!" she whispered into the silence. "Crow was so horrified and hurt he could barely tell me about it, but he didn't have to; I saw Jori for myself! He really is dead, Naomi!"

Naomi refused to believe what her black-haired friend was telling her. Just yesterday he had seemed as optimistic as ever about the future. It just couldn't be true...

_Flashback_

_Naomi was standing, looking out over the open ocean as she had so many times before, when she heard footsteps approaching. It was a grey day, clouds hanging overhead, threatening an early-spring rain; the wind blew wildly from the south, and the waves crashed violently below. As the footfalls subsided beside and just a little behind her, she asked, "Do you really think any of us will ever get out of Satellite? It seems like such a long shot..."_

_"I believe you will, Naomi," Jori answered softly. "Someday. You just have to believe and never give up hope."_

_She turned to face the brown-eyed boy, her own green eyes full of doubt._

_"I know you feel trapped sometimes, Naomi, but a day will come when someone will hand you the key to escape this cage called Satellite. You just have to keep your hope alive long enough for that to happen." Jori pulled the younger girl into his warm embrace as the first few drops of rain began to fall. "C'mon; let's go in before we get soaked!"_

_End Flashback_

"Naomi? Are you gonna be okay?" Mieke asked gently as a tear slid from the corner of the other girl's eye.

Naomi wiped a hand under her eye, erasing the wet streak from her cheek. "I just need to be alone for awhile." She stood and started out the door to her favorite place on the rocks. The sun shone brightly, reflecting off the water, but it offered no warmth to her soul; she felt completely numb. She didn't - couldn't, really - understand why he would commit suicide. Mieke had said that he'd lost all hope, but she refused to accept that for the reason. Jori had always been the one with enough hope for himself with some to spare on top of it. He was the one who had convinced her she could one day get out of the Satellite. But now that he was gone, her hope had faded with him.

Her tears came as easily as the crashing of waves against the rocks below. He was gone, she knew, but it seemed unreal. Just yesterday they had stood on this very spot, talking. He couldn't be gone; he just couldn't be! ...Yet he was. She was sobbing now, unable to control her sadness. And anger. He was a hypocrite, after all! He kept telling her to hold on to hope, but he himself had lost it! She wasn't sure which emotion was driving more of the tears now: Her sadness over having lost her best friend, or her anger at his hypocrisy!

After some time, the tears subsided, though the pain of loss did not. She didn't know how long she remained there on the rocks, staring out at the ocean waves; it must have been quite awhile, however, as the sun was slowly sinking in the sky when the sound of a ruckus down the street broke through her thoughts. She rose to her feet after a moment and sprinted down the road, realizing that someone must be in trouble; even though she was in pain, that didn't mean she couldn't help them. She rounded a corner and froze dead in her tracks at what she saw there.

"C'mon, you! Stop struggling!" a Sector Security Officer was saying as a boy in handcuffs fought against him.

"I'm tellin' ya: We didn't do anything wrong!" This voice belonged to Alex, she knew, though his face was turned away.

Another officer had her brother in handcuffs and was escorting him to a patrol car. Ryan glanced back over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of his sister. Fear flooded his face, and he mouthed, "Run! Hide!" at her.

Naomi found her feet just in time and ducked into the shadows of a nearby ally just as the officer holding Ryan turned to see what his captive was staring at. Her black short-sleeve shirt and jeans concealed her easily in the dark shadows, and the officer didn't spot her. As she peered out around the corner from her hiding place, another officer appeared from the doorway of a building, fighting against a black-haired girl.

"Ouch! STOP KICKING ME, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" the officer hollered.

"Mieke!" Naomi whispered in horror. She felt like someone was strangling her, tearing the life out of her. This was not happening! In one short day everything she knew was being torn away. And all she could do was watch, helpless to do anything.

Mieke swung out in one final attempt to get free and managed to hit the officer in just the right spot so that he lost his grip just enough for her to escape. A spark of hope returned to Naomi's heart, but it was quickly extinguished. With Ryan seated in one of the cars, the officer who had been holding him had his hands free. In an instant, quick as lightening, he had drawn his gun and fired it once. Though officers were normally only issued stun-guns, these particular officers were the exception.

It was all Naomi could do to keep from screaming and rushing over to her fallen friend. Her head swam as a pool of deep crimson blood polled around the lifeless body lying face down in the middle of the street.

"...No! ...No..." she whispered. "Mieke..." She could feel her eyes misting over again. She'd thought she'd had no more tears to cry, but now that her whole world was crashing down around her...

A blue and white security runner turned the corner and pulled to a stop next to the two cars already there. The man dismounted, sauntered over to the car with Ryan in it, and said a few words to her brother. Her brother's blue eyes doubled in shock, his face paling. As the officer stepped away from the car, laughing, he removed his helmet.

Naomi felt as though someone had stabbed a knife through her stomach and her heart at the same time. She gasped for breath, but it felt as though none of the air was reaching her lungs. This wasn't possible; it wasn't happening! It just couldn't! She pressed her back to the wall, not wishing to see anymore, and slid down until she was sitting on the hard ground. After a moment, she heard the cars pull away, and with them, everything she had ever known was gone.

"Well, well, well," a hard voice spoke. "What have we here?"

Naomi didn't look up; she already knew the voice's owner. "How_ could you_, Jori?" she accused him in a whisper. "How _could you?_"

He chuckled, a mirthless sound. "You should already have an idea of why, Naomi. Remember out conversation yesterday? This is my key out of here! I work for them long enough, and eventually Sector Security will send me to the city to work!"

"But why my brother? Why Alex and Mieke?" she whispered, her voice strained with renewed sadness and anger. "Why didn't you turn me in, too, since you obviously knew I was here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he crouched down to her level. "It wouldn't make sense to mark up your beautiful face."

Naomi looked up, startled, and met his gentle, loving gaze. For a moment, she forgot what had just taken place as she stared into the face of her friend. In that moment, it felt as though nothing had changed.

"As soon as I can get out of here," he continued, "I'm gonna take you with me! That's why I told you yesterday that you had to be strong and hold on."

Naomi was mesmerized by his words. She was going to get out of Satellite? Could it really be true?

"But why did you pretend to kill yourself? How in the world did you even manage to fake it?"

"I had to find a way to completely disappear, a way that no one would come looking for me! As for how I managed that... well, that's a bit of secret I'm not allowed to tell! But I just have to keep helping Security round up this _Scum_; then we'll have our ticket out of here, I promise!"

Whoa. Wait just a second. Jori should have stopped talking while he was ahead. "My brother is _NOT_ Satellite Scum!" She didn't care now if Jori could get her away from here; it wasn't about that anymore. "Alex and Mieke aren't either! How _DARE_ you say that they are? If you consider them to be, then I am too!" she spat as she stood to her feet and moved away from the wall she had been leaning against.

"Now, hold on just a cotton-pickin' minute!" he retorted, getting to his feet as well.

Before he could continue, however, Naomi cut back in, the fog over her mind clearing. "You really believe working for them is going to get you out of here? They're using you, Jori! They'll never send you to the city because you're only valuable to them here! As soon as you can't help them anymore, they'll dispose of you by sending you to the Facility! And believe me, you won't have many friends with all the people you'll end up sending there!"

"Would you _LIKE_ to follow you brother and Alex to the Facility? If not then I suggest you watch yourself, or you'll be following them shortly! Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice to get what you want - to get what you deserve! - "

"But you don't sacrifice _FAMILY!_" she interrupted, almost screaming at him now. "You don't sacrifice everything you ever cared about! You're such a _hypocrite_, Jori! You're the one who taught me that _family_ is the most important thing there is and that _NOTHING_ is worth sacrificing it for! And now here you are, telling me that freedom is worth more than my _brother!_ Well, let me tell you something, Jori: _I DON'T AGREE!_"

"Well, let me tell _YOU_ something, _Naomi!_ If you don't watch your mouth, that pretty little face is gonna have an ugly yellow criminal mark on it! You realize that I'm doing all of this for you, don't you?" His voice softened on the last sentence. "I want you to have the chance to live out all your hopes and dreams! Don't you _see_ that, Naomi?"

Unmoved, Naomi stood her ground, fists clenched at her sides. "No," she said bluntly, "you're doing this for _you_, Jori, and no one else. The only person you've ever cared about is _you_; I don't know how I ever trusted you or called you my _friend_. You're just like _them!_"

The boy-turned-officer took a startled step back. Then he laughed. "Well, Naomi Mori, if that's the way you really want it, then I'll be leaving now." He turned his back to her as if to walk away. Before he took a step, he added, "But just to clarify: I'm nothing like those thugs."

"Oh really?" Naomi retorted. "Because it would seem to me that you both like to push people around and betray them in order to get what you want."

Without warning, Jori spun around, arm outstretched, ramming it into Naomi's side. The girl lost her balance, sprawling into a pile of old wooden crates behind her. Not waiting even until the noise of splintering wood ceased, Jori started out of the alley back towards his runner and a moment later was gone.

Naomi didn't move for a moment, wondering what had just happened. The Jori she knew would never even think about hurting a fly, much more a person, without good reason. But then again, the Jori she had just encountered wasn't the same Jori she had know for over five years either. He'd changed over night it seemed.

After what felt like an eternity of thinking - but was in reality only a moment or two - she began to pick herself up from the broken crates. She looked herself over, noting that she had only a few scratches on her arms. Most of them weren't deep, but one - she assumed that it was on the arm that had broken her fall - was bleeding quite badly. It wasn't nearly as long of a cut as she first suspected, she realized upon rubbing her finger across the the streak of red on her arm. The wound was simply bleeding enough that the blood was rolling in drops down her arm, tracing a path through the dirt she acquired from the crates.

She returned back to the old warehouse and found the first-aid kit her brother had insisted on having on hand. Though neither had ever needed more than a band-aid from it, she was glad he had insisted now. The cut ended up being no more than an inch long so it didn't take much to bandage it.

The sun was beginning to set in the west as she wandered back outside, over to where the rocks dropped away to the ocean below. A gentle breeze blew, sweeping her hair around her face, much as it had earlier that day and every day before. Only now she had no hope left. In a matter of hours her whole life had come crashing down around her.

But it wasn't the first time something like this had happened. A few years before, she had gotten herself mixed up with a bad crowd - the "thugs" Jori had referred to. The only difference was when everything went awry, she'd still had someone to turn to. Her so-called 'friends' had betrayed her trust, but she still had her true friends: Ryan, Mieke, Alex, and Jori were still there for her. It had been from that point on she had sworn never to trust anyone but those four.

And until now not having to trust anyone else hadn't mattered. But now Mieke was dead, Ryan and Alex were on their way to the Facility, and Jori - her own friend - had betrayed her as well. If she couldn't couldn't trust her own friends, then who could she trust? Was there no one whom she could trust anymore?

It was then that Naomi Mori completely turned her back on the world. 'Looking for angels?' she thought bitterly as she stared out into the sea. 'Impossible in a city of devils...'

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><p>Author's Notes: Reviews=Happy Writer=Another Chapter=)<p> 


	3. Chapter 3 World So Cold

Author's Notes: This is actually originally where a second story started. And, just a word of WARNING: There are a couple of pervert guys in this chapter. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Enjoy=)

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><p><strong>Chapter Three - World So Cold<strong>

Alone. That was how Naomi chose to live now. She didn't need anyone but herself. Certainly she didn't need memories to haunt her, either, which was why when she turned her back on the world, she also turned her back on the warehouse she had called home for over a year. She turned to walk away, leaving her hopes and dreams behind in the ocean waves. She never thought to look back; she simply walked away.

One day faded into another as she wandered the endless streets of Satellite; the nights were spent sleeping wherever she could find a suitable enough space. She no longer wished to gaze up at the stars that were no longer visible through the smog. Naomi may have been alive, but she wasn't really living, only going through the motions of everyday life. There was nowhere for her to go, no one for her to turn to, and so she wandered day after day after day.

It was true that she had thought briefly of going to see this "Martha" character Jori had thought so highly of, but the thought never stayed long. After what Jori had done, could she trust anyone he'd known? Maybe they were all just like him, and Naomi refused to take that risk.

Alone. That's what she was now that almost two years had past since Ryan and Alex had been hauled off to the Facility.

Dusk was closing in, signaling the end of yet another day. She glanced in through the doorway of a rather dilapidated building: empty. 'Perfect place for the night,' she thought. 'No one else would ever want to stay in a place like this...' Stepping over a beam that had fallen in front of the doorway, she sought out a space to rest. After ducking under a second fallen beam, she instantly became suspicious at the wide open room before her. "That's strange..." she mumbled to herself. "I woulda thought the whole place was ready to collapse..."

"Yeah that's what a lot of people think," a rough tenor voice spoke from right behind her. She spun around, startled, to find herself face-to-face with a large, burly man with long back hair pulled back in a low pony-tail, wearing black jeans with a blue vest over a brown, sleeveless muscle shirt. He had a jagged criminal mark under his left eye. "That's what makes this an ideal hideout for me and my gang."

Out of the corner of her eye, Naomi spotted two other men dressed in similar fashion, one with dark blue hair and the other with sea-green hair; both had yellow markings under their eyes as well. As they began to close in, she could feel herself starting to panic. She started backing up, but her retreat was cut short as she backed into a forth man. Spinning around again, she found another criminal-marked face, this man having a head of fiery-red hair. She was trapped, and they knew it.

"Now then," the first spoke. "Shall we get down to business? You can come quietly, little lady, or we can take you by force; your choice."

"W - what do you mean?" Naomi stuttered; she already knew what they intended to do with her, but she had to stall until she could come up with a plan of escape.

All four men laughed. "So naive!" the leader cackled. "Ah, well, that just makes it all the more fun!"

"You stay away from me!"

"Yeah? And what are you gonna do if we don't? Fight us off?" He nodded to the others, signalling them to grab hold of her. The two to either side stepped out and grabbed her arms; Naomi struggled but they were much stronger than she. "You couldn't possibly take down all four of us, much less even one of us!"

"Then maybe you should give the lady a fair chance and pick on someone your own size, Katsu!" a baritone voice interrupted.

The leader - Katsu - spun around to face the owner of the voice, but he was mostly hidden by shadows. All Naomi could see of the man was his duel disk, light glinting off of it, and brown, calf-high boots with his blue jeans tucked into them. The black-haired leader, however, seemed to recognize the voice, and didn't appear to be at all happy to see him. "What do you want, punk?"

"Just what I said," the stranger replied, stepping out of the shadows. "A fair fight for the lady."

This boy, Naomi noted, didn't bare a criminal mark like the others, so he must have grown up in Satellite, like herself. His hair was black, like Katsu's, but his was spiky and sported yellow highlights as well; his black, sleeveless shirt had a red emblem on it that was partially covered by a brown vest. His sapphire eyes met her green ones for a brief moment before returning to the leader.

"So ya gonna let her go, or am I gonna have to defeat you in a duel?"

In response, Katsu crossed the room to make the field of play and inserted his deck into the duel disk on his right arm, activating it. "I've been waiting for an opportunity for a rematch with you, punk! And trust me, you won't be so lucky as to defeat me this time!"

"Then you won't object to a little 'condition'!" The raven-haired duelist produced a hook from - what seemed to Naomi - nowhere and threw it lasso-style, connecting his own duel disk to Katsu's.

Katsu growled. "Not this again!"

"What? Don't tell me you're afraid!" the other duelist mocked, narrowing his eyes. "Besides, you just told me you won't lose! But I guess if you want to back out..."

"I ain't backin' out-a nothin'!"

"Let's DUEL!" both called out, drawing their first hand. As they did so, the other three gang members moved off to the side, dragging Naomi with them.

"I'll start!" Katsu declared, drawing a card. "By sacrificing a monster from my hand, I can special summon Dark Warlock (ATT: 500, DEF: 2000) from my hand in Defense Mode! Normally, you can't inflict damage on the first turn, but thanks to my Warlock's special ability, when you have zero cards on your field, I can inflict 2000 points of direct damage to your Life Points!"

The stranger growled as his Life Points were cut in half before he'd been able to make even one move. "You've upped your game since last we met, Katsu."

The man laughed. "I end my turn with a face-down!"

"Then I draw! First I summon Speed Warrior (ATT: 900, DEF: 400) in Attack Mode! Thanks to his special ability, my Warrior's attack points double during the turn he's summoned! But don't think I'm done yet! Next I activate the Spell Card Defense By-Pass! When the only monsters on your field are in Defense Position, I can attack you directly! Go, Speed Warrior!"

Naomi had to admit she was impressed by this stranger's dueling; in one turn he'd easily managed to even the playing field. Now he had only 200 less Life Points then Katsu. Maybe - _just maybe_ - he really could get her out of this mess.

"I end my turn with a two face-downs!"

Katsu growled. "I draw! And now I summon Crawling Dragon (ATT: 1600, DEF: 1400) to the field! My Dragon has more than enough power to take out your Warrior! ATTACK!"

"That may be true, but Speed Warrior's not going anywhere thanks to Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, which negates your attack! Then I'm allowed to place it face-down again for use later."

"I end my turn," Katsu growled.

"My move, then," the stranger declared, drawing from his deck with a slight flourish. "By sending Shield Warrior (ATT: 800, DEF: 1600) from my hand to my Graveyard, I am able to summon Turret Warrior (ATT: 1200, DEF: 2000) to my field. And thanks to his ability, he gains attack points equal to the sacrificed monster's attack points, giving him an 800-point boost! Now, Turret Warrior, take out his Crawling Dragon!"

Katsu's Life Points dropped to 1800. "My move, then! I activate Call of the Haunted from my hand to resurrect the monster I sacrificed on my first turn: Fire Lord (ATT: 2000, DEF: 1600)! Fire Lord, destroy his Speed Warrior!"

Everyone, including Katsu, was surprised when the stranger didn't activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. Instead, he took the hit, knocking his Life Points down to 900. 'Or maybe he won't be getting me out of here...' Naomi thought dismally.

"Hey, thanks," he said, smirking. "Since you destroyed a monster on my field, I can activate Zero Destruction, which allows me to destroy the monster that just attacked. Fortunately for you, no damage is dealt."

Katsu didn't look happy; though he still had more Life Points, he now didn't have any defense against an attack. But the best thing, Naomi observed, was the fact that the two goons holding her were so involved in the duel that they had let their grip on her loosen. And she took advantage of that fact. Without warning, she twisted free of their grasp. Unfortunately, she had only taken about two steps before tripping over a foot intentionally placed in her path. She was sent sprawling to the floor, a gash cut into her arm from a broken shard of glass as she hit the concrete.

The red-haired man pulled Naomi to her feet, a knife at her throat. "Don't make any sudden moves, and you won't get hurt!" he spat.

At the commotion, Katsu and the stranger turned their attention to the scuffle. Katsu growled, "As soon as this duel is over, I'm gonna be taming that dame!"

"You won't be 'taming' anyone, Katsu!" the stranger retorted. To Naomi he spoke more gently, though just as confidently: "Don't worry; I'm gonna win this and get you out of here!"

Katsu chuckled inwardly. 'Fool!' he thought. 'Even if you win, punk, neither one of you is gonna leave here alive!' Returning his attention to the duel at hand, he said, "I end my turn."

"Good," the stranger smiled. "Then I summon Nitro Synchron (ATT: 300, DEF: 100) to the field; but he won't be staying for long! I now tune my level two Nitro Synchron with my level five Turret Warrior to bring out Nitro Warrior (ATT: 2800, DEF: 1800)! Say 'sayonara' to your last 1800 Life Points and this duel! Go, Nitro Warrior!" Katsu's Life Points dropped to zero, ending the duel and destroying Katsu's duel disk. "Now, let the girl go, just like we agreed."

Katsu laughed. "I said I was gonna tame that dame, punk, and I meant it! Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to let a catch like that get away from me?"

"She's not an object for you to do with what you want, Katsu," the stranger fought back. "Now, let her go!"

Katsu moved in front of Naomi who was still in the grasp of his red-haired minion. The black-haired leader pulled out a knife he had kept concealed under his clothing until now. "You want her? Then let's go, punk!"

The stranger also pulled out a concealed knife. "I should have known you wouldn't keep your word! Fine; dueling isn't the only way I know how to fight."

"Just go! I'm not worth it!" Naomi cried out. As much as she hated the thought of him leaving her alone with these thugs, she didn't want to see him hurt because of her either. More than anything, she didn't want a horrid, bloody memory of someone trying and failing to save her in her head.

"Don't worry about me," he responded calmly. "I told you I would get you out of here, and I fully intend to keep that promise!"

"YAAAAHHH!" Katsu rushed forward, making a motion to slash at the stranger's chest. The stranger dodged Katsu's blade and, at the same time, grabbed the hand that held his opponent's knife, twisting it around so the other man's hand was forced upward to his own shoulder blades. Unable to grasp his knife, it fell to the floor as the stranger held his own weapon to Katsu's throat.

"Alright!" Katsu gasped. "ALRIGHT!" The stranger loosened his grip ever-so slightly. "Let the girl go!" the leader gasped. "Now!" Reluctantly the red-head released her, and Naomi stumbled forward a few steps, amazed that this stranger would go to such lengths to rescue her.

"Get out of here," the stranger spoke to her. "I'll follow as soon as I know you're safe."

Naomi hesitated for only a moment before turning and ducking under a beam, immediately disappearing from sight. When she stepped outside, the last few rays of the setting sun still cast a red light over the Satellite. She could have walked away right then and there, but there was something she had to find out first. A moment later the raven-haired stranger stepped out of the doorway into the street.

"Why?" she asked boldly. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" he asked in response, stowing his blade. "Stand up for you? I can't stand to see people bullied, pushed around, or taken advantage of."

"Oh. Well." She shifted awkwardly, looking anywhere but at the stranger. "Thank you." Naomi turned and started to walk away.

"Hey, wait a second!" She stopped but didn't turn. "What were you doing in there anyway?" Silence. He came up behind her, studying her intently. "And what happened to your arm?" he added, noticing the streak of crimson blood.

"That must have happened when I fell in there."

"Well, here; let me see." He gently took her fore-arm in his hands; it was almost a surprise to Naomi that they were warm. She had gone so long without any physical contact that she'd nearly forgotten. He was such a mystery to her; this man knew nothing about her yet he had risked himself to help her. He knew how to fight with a knife, yet handled her arm so gently. Still she found herself pulling away from him.

"Look, I don't need you," she spoke bitterly.

The stranger raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

Naomi knew the implication behind his words, and she wouldn't deny that she would have been history if he hadn't come along when he did. She averted her eyes downward at her black converse, defeated.

"C'mon. I'll have that fixed up in no time."

* * *

><p>Sitting on a pair of old wooden crates, Naomi watched as the stranger first cleaned the cut on her arm and then bandaged it with gauze and white medical tape. Neither had said a word since they'd arrived at the old apartment building, but now the stranger broke the silence.<p>

"So are you gonna answer my question?"

She looked up at him startled and confused. "Huh?"

"You know, about going in that building alone."

Turning her head away, she stared out the window silently. She heard the first-aid kit click shut and stranger rise from his position on the other crate. "Do I even get a name?" he asked as he replaced the kit on a shelf across the room. Again he was answered by silence. He sighed; Naomi couldn't tell if he was angry or bewildered by her continued stubbornness to not answer him.

After a moment she asked, "So is this where you live or something?" To be honest, she didn't expect him to answer since she had given no reply to his questions, but once again, he surprised her.

"Not anymore," he replied as he sat back down again with a sigh. "I live in an old subway station now, but a few friends and I stayed here for about a year. What about you?" Once again her only answer was silence. She didn't need him to know anything about her and answering that question was far more than anyone needed to know. But somehow he already had her figured out.

"You're a wanderer, then," he stated as though someone had told him already. She turned back, startled that he'd guessed. He must have been able to read her expression because he explained: "I had a hunch when you wouldn't answer my question. That and you wandered unknowingly into the hideout of a rough and rather perverted duel gang. I though when we had taken them out a few months ago that they were gone for good; I guess not." He stood to his feet again.

"Wait," Naomi spoke. "What do you mean you 'took them out'?"

"This building was the headquarters of our duel gang, The Enforcers. Our goal was to make Satellite a safe place to live by eliminating the other duel gangs that were terrorizing people. We managed to take them all out, but I guess Katsu managed to fix his duel disk and gain some followers again."

"So that's what he meant..." Naomi let her sentence trail off. This guy was really something else... "So what happened that you don't live here anymore?"

"We fell apart about a month ago." He spoke as if the memory hurt him; Naomi knew exactly how that felt. "One of our members got carried away, and that was the end of it." He paused; when he continued, he'd changed the subject: "I'd better get back before my friends start to worry, but you're welcome to stay here as long as you like." He started to leave, but stopped in the doorway for a moment. "If you ever need anything, it's the old subway on Dark Avenue. Just ask for 'Yusei Fudo'." Then he was gone.

'Yusei, huh?' she thought. 'That name sounds familiar... Of course! That was the name of one of the boys Mieke was always talking about... He was also a friend of.. Jori's...' A friend of Jori's, yet he'd been so kind to her... No. Jori had been kind to her once, too, but that didn't mean she ever should have trusted him. This 'Yusei' character could end up being just the same. And tomorrow, she determined, she would get the truth from him about why he had helped her.

* * *

><p>As Naomi strode down Dark Avenue the next morning, she had to wonder about this guy. She wasn't even willing to tell him her name, but he had divulged where he was staying anyway. Either this guy was just plain stupid, or he really believed in helping people and trust. The only thing trust had ever gotten her was betrayal. She didn't understand how he could possibly be so open to her.<p>

The old subway station loomed up ahead; it appeared to be completely deserted. Had he lied to her? There was only one way to find out, so she continued on down the steps into the darkness. Looking around at the bottom, she couldn't see any sign of life anywhere in the darkness.

'I knew it!' she thought, anger boiling up inside of her. 'He's just like everyone else!'

She turned to go back up, but stopped short when she heard voices coming her way. The first one had a bit of a nasally tone: "All I'm saying, Blitz, is that I don't think it's a very smart idea!" Naomi turned towards the voices as the second continued the conversation. "Give me one good reason why, Nervin. And it can't be 'because I have a bad feeling about this!'" It was then that the two became visible in the light streaming down the stairway. Both were tall, but one was lanky with navy blue hair pulled back in a pony-tail and spectacles, while the other was more muscular and wore a blue bandanna over his short, brown hair.

"Oh. My," stated the first voice as he caught sight of her; it belonged to the blue-haired man.

"What have we here," the second murmured.

Naomi swallowed hard. While the one didn't look so tough, his companion was quite a bit more threatening. Had she walked straight into a trap? "I - I'm hear to see Yusei," she stuttered, panic rising in her throat.

The brown-haired one, Blitz, glanced over to his friend, the one called Nervin, and raised an eyebrow. "You must be the damsel-in-distress Yus' was tellin' us about last night," Blitz stated. "C'mon; we'll take you to him."

"I think I'll stay right here, thank you." She didn't trust these two anymore than she trusted this 'Yusei' fellow.

"Suit yourself," Blitz replied as he turned and started back the way he'd come. "I'll be right back, then, but he ain't gonna be happy I don't think."

Nervin rolled his eyes. "Yusei's not the type to get mad over being interrupted. Blitz is just being over-dramatic." He turned and followed the other man back into the darkness as Naomi wondered how in the world they could manage to get around down here without any lights.

Naomi sat down on the steps to wait, but it only took a moment for Yusei to appear. "What can I do for you?" he asked kindly.

As she gazed into his gentle, blue eyes she could almost believe she could trust him. But standing back up, she steeled herself, forced herself to remain strong. "Why did you help me yesterday?" she asked in an icy tone.

"What?" he responded, surprised. "I already told you - "

"What was your motive? To make yourself look good? To get something out of it? What is it? And don't you dare lie to me!"

"I wasn't lying last night!"

"I bet you put them up to it, didn't you? I mean how else would you know to be around there if you hadn't set it up?"

"WHAT? Now, hold on - "

"I want the truth!"

"Well, I'd love to explain what I was doing there, but you keep interrupting me before I have the chance!"

Naomi crossed her arms in front of her. "I'm waiting."

"I went for walk last night and - "

"Likely story!"

"I thought you were going to let me explain?"

"Fine. Explain."

Yusei sighed, attempting to calm himself back down; never had he met anyone who could ruffle his feathers like this girl could, although after everything that had happened lately causing him to loose his cool wasn't as difficult of a feat as normal. In a softer, gentler voice he continued: "I've had a lot on my mind lately, and I just needed to get out for awhile. I heard you call out 'stay away from me' so I figured someone was in trouble and went to investigate. When I saw you with Katsu and his gang, I couldn't just leave you to be fed to the wolves. But I told you that yesterday, so if you wouldn't mind explaining what this is all about, if would surely be appreciated."

Naomi was silent, averting her eyes. He seemed so sincere is was almost impossible not to trust his words. How could she explain why she didn't trust him without going into her painful past?

"The silence game again, huh?" he asked after a moment, crossing his arms in front of him. "Ya know, I get the feeling that you don't trust me."

"I don't trust you or anyone else, Yusei Fudo." Though her tone was cold and unfeeling, she was surprised he could read her so well. How did he do it? The last person who could tell her hidden emotions had been - No! Now was not the time to be thinking about Jori! ...Too Late... Naomi couldn't stop her stony countenance from crumbling into a look of sorrow, anger, and rejection all at once. She turned her back to the raven-haired teen. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'll go now... I won't ever bother you again."

"Wait!" He reached out a hand and gently grabbed her shoulder. "Please. I'm the one who should be apologizing. Thing's have been tense lately, but I had no right to snap. Please believe me when I say I just want to help."

"Yeah, well, you can't help so there's not point in trying."

"You don't know that."

"Yes. I do." Naomi shrugged out from under his hand that had still been resting on her shoulder. She started up the steps again.

"Won't you at least let me try?"

Naomi stopped, sighing with impatience. "I gave up on everyone and everything a long time ago. In a world so cold, you can't trust anyone. So why don't you just give up, like I have?"

"I guess it's not in me to give up."

"Fine; how 'bout a duel to decide then? I win, and you leave me alone; I lose, and I'll tell you anything you want to know about me. Deal?"

"Let's do this. But just one thing."

"What?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Do I at least get the name of my opponent?"

"Naomi."

"Alright, Naomi, let's go up to the street; there's more space up there."

"Whatever." She followed Yusei up the stairs, out of the subway station, and into the street. He went to the right; she, to the left.

"Let's DUEL!"

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: SURPRISE! Haha, weren't expecting that, were ya? ;) ...Or maybe you were. I don't know. Anyway, as always, Reviews=Happy Writer=Next Chapter ^_^<p> 


	4. Chapter 4 Secrets and Regrets

Author's Notes: Final chapter: here it is! Just as a word of warning, I suck at writing duels. I'm not totally familiar with all the rules and such (and definitely wasn't when I wrote this this past spring), so I'm sorry in advance if there are problems in this. I usually avoid writing full duels for that reason. If you ever read anything else I've ever written (or will write in the future), you'll notice I only write parts of duels. (Not to mention I think they're boring to read anyway.) And, yes, there are cards that I made up. I tried to keep made-up cards out of Yusei's deck, but I think there might be one or two.

Anyway, enjoy!=)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four - Secrets and Regrets<strong>

"Ladies first!" Naomi declared whipping out the top card from her deck. "I summon Witch of the Black Forest (ATK: 1100, DEF: 1200) in defense mode! That'll do for my turn."

Yusei drew a card. "Then I summon Speed Warrior (ATK: 900, DEF: 400) in attack mode! Due to his special ability, Speed Warrior's attack points double during the turn he's summoned. (ATK: 1800) Speed Warrior, attack her Witch!"

Naomi smiled as her Witch of the Black Forest shattered into a million golden pieces. "I was hoping you'd do that! Now I can activate my Witch's special ability! When she's sent from the field to the Graveyard, I get to select one monster card from my deck and add it to my hand, provided I show you the card. I select Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid!"

"I end my turn with a face-down, and Speed Warrior's attack points return to normal," the raven-haired duelist responded. "It's your move."

"I draw! Then I summon Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid (ATK: 1200, DEF: 1800) to the field in attack mode! Now Aurkus, take out his Speed Warrior!"

"I activate my face-down, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! Not only is your attack negated, but I also get to place my Scarecrow face-down again for use later."

Naomi growled. "I place one card face-down and send the top two cards of my deck to the Graveyard due to Aurkus' effect. A small price to pay, really."

Naomi: 4000 LP  
>Yusei: 4000 LP<p>

"My move then," Yusei declared. "I draw, then summon Junk Syncron (ATK: 1300, DEF: 900); but he won't be staying for long! Thanks to the Card Syncro Tool, I can summon a level two or below monster from my hand to the field as long as I syncro summon this turn! So now Junk Syncron tunes with Speed Warrior and Sonic Chic to summon out Junk Warrior (ATK: 2300, DEF: 1300)! Go, destroy Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid!" Once again Naomi's monster shattered into pieces. "I end my turn."

Naomi: 2900 LP  
>Yusei: 4000 LP<p>

Naomi drew another card. "My turn then. I summon Armageddon Knight (ATK: 1400, DEF: 1200) in attack mode, then end my turn with a face-down."

Her opponent added another card to his hand. "Junk Warrior, take out Armageddon Knight!" he ordered.

"I activate Card Defense! By discarding a card from my hand, I'm allowed to negate your attack and draw another card."

"I end my turn then."

"Good! I draw!" She winced inwardly when she saw the card she'd just drawn. For a moment she debated upon playing it, but in the end, what other option did she have? "I summon Guardian Angel (ATK: 1400, DEF: 1800) in defense mode. That's all for this turn." She wondered if he could see the tears she was biting back or hear the strain in her voice. 'I sure hope he can't' she thought.

Yusei added yet another card to his hand. "I attack Armageddon Knight with Junk Warrior."

"I activate Guardian Angel's special ability! When my Angel is in defense mode, I can sacrifice it to negate the attack on another monster and end the battle phase! I also get to place Guardian Angel on the top of my deck. So if you're done" - Yusei nodded once - "then it's my move! I re-summon Guardian Angel to my field in defense mode. Then I activate Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards as long as I discard two of them. I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"Alright then," Yusei spoke as he whipped another card from his deck. 'Another spell?' he thought. "Junk Warrior, take out her Guardian Angel!"

"I activate my face-down, Broken Wings! By paying 500 life points, I can prevent a Warrior or Spirit type monster from being destroyed. The battle phase also ends immediately."

"Ya know, the way you duel is a bit ironic: You're trying so hard to protect those two monsters, yet you simply throw others away," Yusei pointed out.

"I didn't 'throw them away,' Yusei Fudo," Naomi spoke bitterly. "Every move I make has a purpose; you call yourself a duelist, but you don't even see that!"

"I never said it was without purpose," he responded. "I simply wonder why Armageddon Knight and Guardian Angel are so valuable to you."

Naomi couldn't stop a tear from escaping the corner of her eye. She knew he probably meant how they were important to the duel, but she also knew the other reason for keeping Guardian Angel on her field. She wiped away the wet streak from her cheek, but she knew the raven-haired boy had already seen it. There was no hiding the truth now. "My brother gave me that card," she whispered, ducking her head. "A few years ago I decided I didn't need him anymore and struck out on my own. I earned my way into a duel gang by defeating one of the team members..."

_Flashback_

_"Welcome to Team Avenge, Naomi!" the leader, Ryou congratulated as Kira's life points hit zero. "That was really quite impressive!"_

_Naomi smiled. "I hadn't even brought out the big dogs yet!"_

_Ryou laughed. "I think you'll fit in well here!"_

_End Flashback_

"And I did fit in well... I dueled along side those I now considered to be my friends for almost three months. They taught me new strategies and helped me get rare, powerful cards into my deck. In return, I continued to help them gain territory. ...But it didn't last. I wasn't the only girl in the gang, so I soon found out they didn't want me just for my dueling skills. When I refused to give Ryou what he wanted, I suddenly wasn't wanted there anymore. But I knew too much about them - their dueling styles, secret entrances into the hide-out - so, fearing betrayal, they wouldn't let me leave either..."

_Flashback_

_"Get HER!" Ryou yelled. "Don't let her get away!"_

_Naomi, breathing hard from trying to out-run the other ten members of Team Avenge, turned a corner. Too late she realized it was a dead-end alleyway. She spun around, wide-eyed._

_Ryou laughed. "You should know better than to try to run from us, Little Mouse!"_

_"Ya know, I can't believe I ever thought any of you were my friends!" Naomi spat, giving them an icy glare. "I actually trusted you guys!"_

_"Your first mistake, Little Mouse," Ryou responded. "You shouldn't trust people you don't know! So now you pay the price!"_

_"Or you do!" a baritone voice spoke from behind the gang. "No one - I repeat NO ONE - messes with my little sister and gets away with it!"_

_The ten parted enough for Naomi to see Ryan, Jori, Alex, and Mieke all standing with arms crossed in the mouth of the alley._

_"Hate to be the barer of bad news, but you're out-numbered two to one!" Ryou spoke with a smirk._

_"Yeah," Jori answered, "but the five of us could easily kick your butts! Anyone care to see? 'Cause we'd love to demonstrate!"_

_"Let's just go, Ryou," one of the girls suggested icily. "Naomi's not worth the trouble."_

_Ryou nodded. "Let's split."_

_*Later at the warehouse*_

_"I'm so sorry!" Naomi sobbed into her brother's shoulder. "I - I know I shouldn't have left but... I don't know why I did anymore!"_

_"Shh... It's alright, Naomi," Ryan comforted. "It's okay! You're safe now. It's all been forgiven and forgotten."_

_The brown-haired girl gulped in air. "I'm sorry!" she whispered, wiping her green eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm never gonna leave again!"_

_"Good." Ryan smiled down at her. "But just in case you ever get the idea of being off by yourself again, here's a little reminder that I will never leave you." He handed his sister a duel monsters card._

_"Guardian Angel." Naomi smiled._

_End Flashback_

"I decided no one was worth trusting after that," Naomi spat, anger evident in her green eyes. "No one except my brother and the friends I already had. But enough chit-chat! We're not here to talk; we're here to duel!"

"It's your move," the boy spoke quietly. Did her story really have that much of an affect on him? Either way, she had to end this soon before he managed to get anything else out of her.

"In that case, I draw! By removing a Dark attribute monster - Witch of the Black Forest - and a Light attribute monster - Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid - from play from my Graveyard, I'm able to summon forth Chaos Emperor Dragon (ATK: 3000, DEF: 2500) to my field in attack mode! Now, my Dragon, destroy his Junk Warrior!"

Yusei smirked. "Did you forget about something? I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!"

"No, I didn't forget," she responded coyly, her green eyes glinting dangerously. "I just happen to have my own little face-down that I've been dying to use for several turns now: Trap Jammer! This little baby negates the effect of your trap AND destroys it!" Scrap-Iron Scarecrow and then Junk Warrior shattered into golden shards.

Naomi: 2400 LP  
>Yusei: 3300 LP<p>

The raven-haired duelist drew yet another card. 'Finally! A chance to use all these spell cards!' he thought. "First I activate Syncro Rite! By removing any two monsters from my deck from play, I'm allowed to summon a syncro monster without tuning! Come forth, Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500, DEF: 2000)! Stardust, take out Guardian Angel!"

Naomi felt as though her brother had been stripped from her a second time as the card shattered. Anger blazed inside her heart, making her even more determined to win the duel.

"I end my turn with two face-downs!"

Naomi whipped out the top card from her deck. "Perfect! I summon out the tuner monster Night's End Sorcerer (ATK: 1300, DEF: 400)! Unfortunately for you, he won't be sticking around; this is why I gave everything to protect my Armageddon Knight, by the way! For this particular tuning, however, I'm required to send the spell Darkness Reigns to my Graveyard; not a problem since I happen to have it in my hand!" Naomi held it up for Yusei to see before inserting it into the Graveyard slot on her duel disk. "Now, with the power of Darkness Reigns in place, I tune my level 2 Night's End Sorcerer together with my level 4 Armageddon Knight and my level 8 Chaos Emperor Dragon!"

"What?" Yusei called out in surprise, his sapphire-blue eyes widening in disbelief.

"Now, I know there's no such thing as a level 14 monster, but guess what? The level of the tuner I use doesn't matter! Trust me: You've never seen anything like what I'm about to summon! In the darkest of times, midst turmoil and chaos, only one stands ready to fight and defend! I syncro summon Chaos Dragon Knight (ATK: 5000, DEF: 4500)!"

On the playing field appeared a dragon similar to the one used in the summon only entirely coal black. Atop the dragon, standing upon its back, was a knight in coal black armor, holding a set of black reigns with which to control the beast. Only two things about this monster where not black: the piercing red eyes of the dragon and the shining silver sword of the knight.

"Now, Chaos Dragon Knight, destroy Stardust Dragon!"

"I activate my face-down, Syncro Tribute! By sacrificing a syncro monster on my field, I can negate your attack and destroy the attacking monster!" The hologram of Stardust Dragon flew towards its enemy, seeking to wrap its wings around the attacking beast. As it drew near, however, Stardust was repelled with a cry. "What?" Yusei shouted in disbelief, eyes widening in surprise as his trap shattered.

Naomi smirked. "Because your trap would have destroyed my knight, my warrior's special ability cancels your card's effect completely! Chaos Dragon Knight can't be destroyed by monster effects, traps, or spells. So don't even bother trying it!" Stardust Dragon shattered into a million golden shards as her monster's attack landed a successful blow.

"I activate Syncro Shield! When a syncro monster is destroyed by battle, I only take half of the damage!" Yusei declared.

Naomi: 2400 LP  
>Yusei: 2050 LP<p>

Naomi growled. That wasn't supposed to happen. 'Oh, well,' she thought. 'It'll still be over next turn!'

"I draw!" the raven-haired duelist stated. "I activate Hero's Return to resurrect Stardust Dragon to my field! His special abilities are negated, but they don't do me much good in this case anyway. But thanks to this card, my Dragon also gains 500 attack points as compensation for losing his special abilities (ATK: 3000). Then I activate Syncro Weapon! For every monster I remove from play from my Graveyard or hand, my Dragon receives a 500 point boost! Unfortunately, I'm only allowed to remove up to three monsters (ATK: 4500)."

"Hate to tell ya," Naomi scoffed, "but that's not really gonna help you any."

"Maybe it will, maybe it won't," Yusei smirked. If he could just last one more turn... "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

'Hmm... What's he planning? ...Well, it doesn't matter 'cause I'm gonna end this right now!' She drew a card. "First I summon Dark Witch (ATK: 1800, DEF: 1700) to the field in attack mode. Then I activate Call of the Haunted to summon Maiden of the Moonlight (ATK: 1500, DEF: 1300) from my Graveyard! Now, I equip Chaos Dragon Knight with the United We Stand spell card! Thanks to this little spell, my Knight gains 800 attack and defense points for every face-up monster I control! (ATK: 6600, DEF: 6100) It's over, Yusei Fudo! Any last words before I end this duel?"

"Actually, yeah," her opponent stated, much to Naomi's surprise, "I do have something to say.

"It's strange how much you can tell about a person just from dueling them. Even if they say very little, you can learn so very much. So here's the first thing I learned about you: You duel with a chaosworn deck, meaning it's comprised of Light and Dark attribute monsters.

"What I learned about you from that? Your life is chaos; you've been through the dark, but you also know what it's like to be in the light. You've had your share of hardships, like the one you mentioned, but you also have known good times with your brother and friends. Right now I can tell you're in pain; you feel like no one cares, and it seems like there's no hope left, but your deck tells me otherwise! Hope remains in your heart, Naomi, though right now only a glowing ember remains of the fire it once was!

"You showed me that hope remains in you through cards like United We Stand, where your other monsters lent their strength to another. I suppose you could say that United We Stand is a friendship and trust card. Think about it: Those three monsters are standing together to defeat a comon enemy; you wouldn't stand by someone you don't trust completely - "

"Yeah," Naomi inturrupted angerly, "but trust is only too easily betrayed! People whom you think you can trust can turn their back on you without a second thought just because they think they've found something better!"

Yusei ducked his head, raven bangs shadowing sapphire-blue eyes. "I know," he spoke bluntly, bitterly. "Though sometimes that person may not realize what they are doing at the time."

"What do you know?" Naomi spat angerly, tears forming in her eyes, threatening to spill over. "All your talk of friendship and trust! You couldn't _possibly_ have _any_ idea of how it feels to have someone turn their back on you!"

A rye smile appeared on the boy's lips. "Oh really? Two days ago my best friend thought I betrayed him, though what he thought he saw wasn't true. He took the life of a Sector Security Officer, and I was going to take the fall for it in his stead. Unfortunately, the officers already knew whom they were looking for, and it wasn't me. This friend thought I ratted him out, called me a traitor before they hauled him away.

"So don't try to tell me that I don't understand, Naomi," he spoke, the rye smile disappearing. His eyes came up into view, a mirror of the pain she herself felt. "It's just that some people don't see the pain they are causing or the mistakes they are making. They may not be intending to hurt you; that's just the way it turns out. In my friend's case, he got power hungry. That hunger for power blinded him, obscured his judgement, made him do things he never would have done before.

"But even after all of that, I can say that if there's one thing I've learned in life, Naomi, it's this: Bad things happen, but that doesn't mean you shut out the world. Pain is part of life; no matter what you do, you can't avoid it, so you learn to cope with it instead. By shutting yourself away from everyone, you're only hurting yourself. No one was meant to go through life alone."

"You don't know anything!" Naomi cried, tears spilling out of her green eyes. "At least being alone means never having to worry about anyone but yourself! No one has the chance to hurt you because you don't give them the chance in the first place!"

"Naomi," the boy spoke quietly. She could still see the evident pain in his eyes, but she didn't want to hear anymore of this stranger's words.

"Chaos Dragon Knight, finish this!" Naomi cried out as the tears continued to streak down her face. As soon as Stardust Dragon had shattered into a million shards, Naomi turned and sprinted down the street.

"Naomi!" she heard him shout out from behind her. When she didn't stop, it didn't take long before she heard a second pair of feet pounding the pavement behind her. "Naomi! Wait! Please!" she heard him call out. Instead of slowing down or stopping, she picked up the pace; she just wanted to get away from this stranger who somehow made sense out of her shattered life. 'If I can just make it to the next alleyway enough ahead of him...'

Yusei saw as she turned down a narrow alley. "Naomi!" he called again. "Please just wait a second!" He turned down the same alleyway she had a moment before and stopped dead in his tracks, breathing hard. The girl had, quite simply, disappeared.

In one last futile effort to find her, he called out, "Naomi!" to which his only answer was the wind whistling through the ruble of the streets.

* * *

><p>Alone. That was how Naomi chose to live now. She didn't need anyone but herself. One day faded into another as she wandered the endless streets of Satellite; the nights were spent sleeping wherever she could find a suitable enough space. There was no one for her to turn to, no place for her to go, and so she would continue wandering day after day after day, as she had always done.<p>

But something was different this time. No matter how hard she tired, Naomi couldn't shake Yusei's words from her head.

_'Hope remains in your heart, Naomi, though right now only a glowing ember remains of the fire it once was!'_

She shook her head. What did he know of hope? One upon a time maybe she had hoped, but that hope had long since evaporated.

_'No one was meant to go through life alone.'_

It was true, she was lonely and longed for human contact, but it wasn't worth the risk of betrayal again. It was just easier to go through life alone like this.

'In a city of devils we live,' she reminded herself dully. 'In a city of devils we live...'

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: Yeah, I know it's a rather depressing ending. That's why (when I finally get around to starting posting it) you should go read the first of three collabs, <em>A New Hope,<em> between ElodieKumari94 and myself=) It continues years after this one ends and incudes both of our OC's as well as canon characters. There's a better summary on my profile if you want to know more!

Anyway, even though this is the end, I still love reviews^_^


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